DawgTalkers.net Forums DawgTalk Tailgate Forum Cavs and NBA discussion continued...

IF this were one of those Browns game ball threads, I'd give one to the team defense. Wow. they locked it down tonight. Blocks, steals, they were scrappy the whole time. How many times did Mozgov swat at a missed shot to regain possession?

Chicago was a top ten offense all year, they definitely sacrificed some of their defensive ways for more offense. The Cavs locked them down tonight.

Awesome game.

Irving is a glass house though. Needs to get with a personal trainer and see if they can figure out a plan to make him more durable.

funny video

[video:youtube]http://youtu.be/6364ItTQwUw[/video]

You can just read the Espn articles too.

lmao.

yo the boards....so many tears. we're gonna see an infux of wizards/hawks fans after that series is over.

nobody cries about officiating quite like bulls fans.

I have a feeling they just took their medicine tonight.

I actually flipped on local sportstalk here today, and some idiot called up and called our team garbage outside of LBJ and KI. So much for that. The entire team outside of our big 3 destroyed your fully staffed team.

I love the Blackhawks, I don't really have any opinion on the sox or cubs because I drift further and further away from baseball, the Bears are just another team to me, because I have sunday ticket and can stream cleveland sports talk. The Bulls? I have hated them ever since I was a little kid, and when i got here, I realized just how awful that fan base is.

I'm gonna savor this win for a while now, especially with the time off.

The Cavs really did themselves a favor tonight. They're going to get a full 5 days off to heal, rest, and prepare. Can't really ask for more than that. Nobody got suckered into doing anything like last time either. The Bulls had a few moments where you got mad, but they weren't using the tactics that the Celtics were using, where I lost count o how many times they fouled without even attempting to go for the ball. Even on Mirotic's flagrant, he got ball. It was more lazy than malicious. Chicago thought they had a chance. Boston knew they had zero chance, so they resorted to cheap shots and arm bars.

I woke up late, missed the whole darn game. Damn! Usually I can see the last quarter if I get up in time.

This Irving injury has gotten me nervous though.

GO CAVS!!!

I think that was the best part. Kyrie on the bench, Lebron struggling with his shot ... and all our role players stepped up and destroyed the Bulls! One of the most satisfying wins of the season.

Wow ....... That is just awful.

Never put a microphone in that guy's hands ever again.

It is kinda crazy that the Cavs played like a high flying team all year, scoring 120 a bunch of times.

Now they look like the old 2007 Cavs, with upgrades all over the place. They relied on defense tonight. They took over the game and series when the defense started being the focal point.

Don't forget, Kevin Love out, and Shumpert still not 100% after that groin injury.

Our big 3 down to a big 1 ..... and the role players stepped up huge.

Imagine if I would have told you, before this game, that Lebron would score 15, and Irving would have 6 points before leaving with an injury.

I doubt that 1 person would have said that we would win, let alone by 21. lol Not one.

The most encouraging thing going forward is the defensive intensity this team is now showing.

Man, I have to say that I love Delly. He is just firce on the defensive end, and his shooting is improving by the game. He's not your PG type player, who distributes, but when he gets in a groove, he can knock down shot after shot after shot, and you always know you can always stick him on almost anyone defensively and he will pester the crap out of them ..... even if they outweigh him by 30#, and are 6 inches taller than him.

I also love what both JR Smith and Shumpert have brought to the team. Shumpert's pestering defense and endless energy, and Smith's cold blooded shooting have been huge.

The 2 big guys in the middle have also been huge. Thompson has made himself a lot of money this year. He has really improved his shooting, and has always been an elite level offensive rebounder. Mozgov gives us what we haven't had since the days of Big Z, a big body in the middle, who can do a bit of everything, and he is also a huge defensive presence. The problem with stats is that they don't always show what a player contributes on a play by play basis, and Mozgov contributes regularly. He changes the opposition's shots. He rebounds, and also knocks a bunch of them out to teammates. I wish he was more consistent as a finisher, but he can grow into that.

The depth on this team is incredible, especially considering that we have a true "Big 3". Some have knocked our depth, but we have a legitimate bench right now.

Delly, Smith or Shumpert, and James Jones have been huge during the playoffs. We have Marion for specific circumstances. Perkins has been a solid rebounder in limited minutes.

Depth is not perfect. No team has great players 7, 8, 9, or 10 deep .... but we have seriously useful guys on our bench.

Man, Lebron with 15 points and Kyrie with 6 .... and we win by 21. Who saw that coming?

Wow. Harden and Howard are complete punks.

I think that Reddick really baited him there.

I cannot believe how badly the Rockets are shooting, especially Harden.

Understatement by the announcers there .... "The Rockets are in trouble", and "They need quality shots here"

Gee, ya think?

What a shot by Griffin. Wow!

What is that black thing the players are wearing across the top of their backs?

Wow, epic collapse by the Clippers.

I have no idea.

Man, I just cannot believe that the Rockets came all the way back to lead by 10 with 1:15 left.

The Clippers just completely imploded.

It's probably going to cost them the series too, they more than likely won't win in Houston now.

Man, I hope the Clippers can pull this off in Houston.

Houston is so unlikeable.

Odd stat: Chris Paul has NEVER been out of the second round of the playoffs.

It is almost like there is a lid on the basket for the Clippers, when the ball actually gets to the hoop that is.

Man, the Rockets outscored the Clippers 40-15 in the 4th.

And Harden sat the entire 4th quarter.

Josh Smith was unstoppable. Crazy.

8 more wins to go

He is consistent, if nothing else

Thats was absolutely a flagrant 2. He even went and stood over Shumpert after he knocked him down. He should have been ejected

Great game last night ... Delly was unbelievable on both ends of the court.

It's nice to get the guys 5 full days of rest (ECF start on Wednesday no matter what).

So here will be our schedule:

Wednesday, May 20 - Cavs at Hawks
Friday, May 22 - Cavs at Hawks
Sunday, May 24 - Hawks at Cavs
Tuesday, May 26 - Hawks at Cavs
Thursday, May 28 - Cavs at Hawks (if necessary)
Saturday, May 30 - Hawks at Cavs (if necessary)
Monday, June 1 - Cavs at Hawks (if necessary)

Do you know something about the Hawks/Wizards series that the rest of us do not?

haha yes I do

J/C
I haven't watched much of the NBA playoffs thus far. The first game I watched Love ended up out. The second was the one where Derrick Rose threw in a garbage bank shot. So, needless to say, I feel like the jinx for this team.

I did watch last night and thoroughly enjoyed watching guys like Shump, Delly and Smith destroy the Bulls. I especially loved the defeated expression on Noah's face.

As GM says, 8 more to go! Go Cavs!!!

Dellavedova = Outback Jesus

so who would yall rather see in the EFC's?

Wiz or hawks?

i think i rather see the Wiz

I'd prefer the wizards so we'd have home court advantage

Assuming the Hawks close out the Wiz, Tristan vs. Horford on the glass is going to be HUGE.

Man, would have been nice if someone could have boxed out on Wednesday for that last putback.

I'll take Wizards and home court!

If Delly didn't get a gameball, that would almost be a crime.

Want to talk about criminal ... There are some amazing playoff basketball and hockey games going on, and all Sports Talk radio shows can talk about is that stupid deflate-gate crap. It's not even new stuff, just rehashing the same old garbage conversations over and over. I was shuffling through 5 radio stations non-stop this morning looking for someone to talk about anything basketball related. Finally, Dan Patrick said they were having Charles Barkley on. Naturally, the first couple questions had to do with how he preferred inflation in a basketball before a game.

I guess you can take a guy out of ESPN, but you can't take ESPN out of a guy ...

DEFLATE THIS!!!

At least you don't live here in NE.

It was on the front page of the Hartford Courant yesterday. Right next to: "Seven More Bodies Found - Serial Killer Suspected"

Oh... Hawks.. Let's face our nemesis.

Going forward I hope Della keeps improving his 3 point shot. If he does, he will definitely earn the backup PG spot for a long time. If TT improves his defense to an elite level, he would deserve a max. However, he would need to be Dennis Rodman level.

Paul Pierce?

I'm actually hoping we get to play Washington. Not because it's supposed to be the "easier" team, but because it would renew an old rivalry and continue our "Revenge" tour.

We knocked off the Celtics, who bumped us out of the playoffs a couple of times. We finished off the Bulls, who were our nemesis in the 80's and 90's. Now it would be nice to get some playoff revenge on Pierce and Gortat (who was on that 2009 Orlando team).

If we can beat Atlanta we can avenge the '95 series although the real enemy there were the NL umpires.